Bryan Ryan
Bryan Ryan is a board member at William McKinley High School. He is a former member of the Glee Club and has always been Will Schuester's rival. He is portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris. Biography Bryan attended high school with Will Schuester and was also in Glee club. He was two years older than Will and got all the good parts, as well as all the girls except one, Will's ex-wife, Terri Schuester. After high school, he went on cruise ships and did theme park work. He then became addicted to crack and nine years later realized that the arts and the Glee club were good for nothing. He blamed them for ruining his life and is now a bitter and ruthlessly cynical man, especially about any musical dreams, and is out to cut school funding and get rid of the Glee club in revenge. Season One In Dream On, Bryan resurfaces as a member of the school board with the intention of cutting the arts program at William McKinley High School, because Glee Club ruined his life. First, he addresses the glee club, having them each write down their biggest dream on a piece of paper. He then takes Artie's piece of paper, crumples it up, throws it in the trash, and tells them their dreams will never happen- at this, the kids are crushed. Will tries to stop this, but Bryan simply presents Will as an example of someone whose dream didn't come true. Will buys Bryan a beer to convince him that he's wrong about glee club. Bryan confesses that he used to have a crush on Terri, and Will says that things didn't work out when he married Terri. Yet music gave him the strength to move on. Bryan admits that he's miserable since he stopped performing. Will puts Piano Man on the jukebox, and he and Bryan sing it together. Will convinces Bryan to audition for the local community theatre's production of Les Misérables. At the Les Mis auditions, Will and Bryan rekindle old rivalries when they're both up for the same part with the same audition song. The director makes them perform one song as a duet. They have a heated musical battle singing Dream On as each tries to upstage the other. Bryan meets with Sue to say he's cutting the Cheerios budget in favor of the glee club. He brings the glee kids presents with their new budget money—dance wear, bedazzled jean jackets and stacks of Broadway sheet music. Sue comes in and congratulates Will on landing the lead in Les Mis over Bryan. Disappointed and upset that his dreams were crushed yet again, Bryan takes his gifts back and says that he's cutting the glee club. Catching up to Bryan later, Will reminds him what it's like to be in high school - with kids labeled with the various stereotypes of jock, queer, nerd, and others - as soon as they walked through the doors freshman year, and what glee once meant to him. Will then describe what happens when a star dies: not only does it fade, but becomes a black hole that takes any nearby light with it. He then compares the kids of New Directions to stars, and claims that if Bryan cuts glee, he'll have created 13 "black holes", and that the kids will then grow up to be as bitter, angry, and cynical as he is. Will goes on to state that Bryan has become a "black hole", and needs to remember what it was like to be a star. Will offers to give Bryan his role so that he'll understand how important the arts are to a person's soul. In exchange, Bryan agrees not to axe the glee club. Trivia- *Starred in a production of Les Mis. *Has only ever sung in duets with Will. *Runs a "show choir" awareness group. *Reformed crack addict. *He's the only male character on Glee (so far) with a name that rhymes. *Terri, his "the one that got away", as stated in Dream On. *Neil Patrick Harris (the actor that plays Bryan) was metioned on an broadcast of Sue's corner. Where by Sue was talking about sneaky gays, and mentioned him. Ironicly when he guest stared on the shows as Bryan Ryan, he and Sue had a short lived relationship, that consisted mainly of anger sex, due to Bryan trying to cut Sue's budget. And the sexual tension between them, when they were debating the importance of the Arts, and sports in schools respectively. Personality Ryan (judging on all his scenes in Dream On) appears to be very talented, but also easily put off his dreams and enjoys ruining others. He appears to take joy in revenge (even if it wasn't anyone's fault or if it effects other people as well as the people he's taking revenge on). He is scarcastic and bitter to even his so-called friends, usually causing them to feel some kind of guilt. However, he is a very unpredictible character, who can decide to be friendly to those he dislikes (e.g. Will) and likes talking about himself and his past. He is easily hurt or upset, often feeling paranoid or betrayed. In a one-minute flashback, he also appears to be a bit boastful but it is obvious he can put on a good show and is a great performer. At the end of the episode, it becomes clear that he often feels guilty and does try to do the right thing, even if he has to do the wrong thing first. Category:Minor Characters Category:Characters Category:Guest Stars Category:Former William McKinley High School Students